The Abilene reflector. [volume] (Abilene, Kan.) 1883-1888, 1887-02-24
THE MOUNTAIN GIRL.
Her Ideal Knight Realized in the
Flesh.

Stacy Dingess lived on the crooked fork
OF Big Cany cIick-creek, it is usually
spelled, cOnfounding the local name of a
bending rivulet with the indentatiOn of a
cast He owned 3S2 acres, thirty-two of
which was fertile bottom land and the rest
made up of steep rocks and patches of soil
on which huge oaks and NAPLES found sus-
tenance. Stacy had wife, Lucy Jane by
name. a gaunt woman, Worn ont by toll, and
prematurely aged by the close log-cabin
atmosphere and the poor fare of the mount
aineer. Stacy had four sons in succession.
whom he named Matthew, Mark. Luke and
John. When his wife gave him a daughter
he called her Acts, intending to go clear
through the New Testament to Revelation
If the crop of children held out. The circuit
rider who baptized the baby was shocked at
the name, which he thought bordered on
profanity, that he called her Acta Her
father would not accept the amendment,
and always called her AK, varying it once
with AK O. the Postils So did the neigh
bOrs, ''fOr Short" as they said. She was
the last born to the pair, and when she was
a strip of girl of thirteen her mother died
The evangelists had all died young, and
when Stacy was gathered to his fathers by
tumbling off a raft Acta was left alone, a
girl of eighteen, in sole control of the family
acres. She had no relatives 50 far as she
knew. There had been an elder brother of
her father named Luke, but he had run away
when boy, and, never having been heard
of after, was supposed to be dead.
The neighbors all counseled Acta to rent
the farm to some one ION shares" and to
board with the tenant. But to this PROPOSE
ton the girl gave a negative. Il know how
fn bfa MIA ba i,
been doin' it for the last three years-pap
left it to ME. When l want any hard work
done old Abner StOllins is always at hand
There's six good COW beasts on the place,
and my butter fetches more than any one
else's. It's sweet and yaller, and the folks
at the courthouse take all can make.n
But won't you be skeert to live alone!'
''Skeert! Why! I've got a rife and |
know how to use it. Then there's our dog,
Bose, and Bose Dingess is as good as two
men. NODody'n trouble me. Afearedi [
wasn't born III the woods TO be skeert by the
yowls."
Acta was regarded as little queer-soae
of the antickest gals livin','' they said
Where she got her good looks from was
hard to say; but she was gOOd-lo, king, a
handsome copy Of her father She was
rather over the middle height, with will
lOwy, symmetrical form, long and finely
nodded neck, and features which, if not
quite classical, were pleasing and hal a
most winning expression She had won
derfully small and shapely feet and h: nds
too. We see such things as these cont nal
W. the assertion of the superiority to b,t,,,
blood running in family. Acta could have
had her pick among the young men of the
viCinage She was thought to be learned.
too. There were no schools around but
ueighbor, who could read. write and cipher
had taught her when child; and. once Acta
had learned to read, her thirst for knoyl
edge was Unsuitable. She had picked I'D a
Eew books, among the rest abridged histories
Of the United States and of England. and
these opened to her a new world. Butthe book
Ofbooks was COPY of Froissart. A travelling
colporteur had this one copy among his stock.
having taken it in exchange for something
else. 1twas quite unstable and too heavy to
carry around. He sold it to Acta for a
strife She pored over the old chronicler at
intervals until she had its leading incidents
by heart and could repeat them at will.
though her pronunciation of some of the
names would have startled a Frenchman
If she changed De Folk into Deefoicks. and
DE Guesclin into DeegOoseclin. she admired
them all the same, and longed to visit
France wherein she supposed brave knights
and gentle danes still existed Her ro-
nance with hero in it came at last. II
was a very small one, but q romance all the
same.
Acta had ridden one day to the court
house with her two little pals of butter
covered with clean white cloths, carefully
suspended on either side of the steady old
horse. 1t was court week, and all the
rough fellows in the county were there
ostensibly to attend to law business. but
really to drink whisky. They attended TO
the real matter in hand so seduouslv that
while they only got drunk the first day.
they never got quite sober until the court
had adjourned. Acta made her way to the
inn, whose keeper had contracted for her
butter, dismounted, tied her horse to apost.
and taking her pals endeavored to get into
the house. There was a crowd there, and
one young man, IN sportive mischief, barred
her way.
See here said he, 81 keep the gate, an
every gal a-passin' has to pay toll. That's
the law"
Acta flashed her eyes at him from the
depths of her sun bonnet.
Get out Of my way, you no-account, tri-
fling Sol Peery, or I'll let you feel the
weight of my hand"
"'Twouidn't hurt fly, nohow,n retorted
Sol ANY ways, you don't pass 'thout
psyin' toll"
None there, least of all Sol, would have
harmed the girl, and he only meant to tease